A. Field of the Invention
The embodiments of the present invention relate to a rest for a rifle, and more particularly, the embodiments of the present invention relate to a gas-dampened recoil rest with remote trigger release for a rifle for allowing a shooter to fire the rifle without any human contact and possible motion contamination.
B. Description of the Prior Art
Various forms of adjustable rifle rests have been heretofore provided to enable rifle sights to be properly adjusted and also to enable close checking of the accuracy of the rifle.
Whenever hunters, marksmen, or users of firearms use a rifle, the sights must be aligned relative to the rifle to assure the accuracy of the rifle. Preferably, the sights are adjusted independent of the shooter. Later detected inaccuracies can then be directed to correcting deficiencies in the shooter's form or technique or the rifle can be compensated for the shooter in a known manner and not by mere guess.
The immobilization of rifles by way of portable devices is conventionally performed by way of gun mounts, bipods, tripods, or trestles, on which loads, such as bags of sand, rocks, etc can be disposed in order to improve the stability of the assembly, of which, however, the stability is random, since the configuration of these support systems does not permit accommodation of large additional loads. Nevertheless, the efficiency of an immobilizing device continues to be proportional to its weight, as well as to its capacity for clamping effectively the rifle it receives.
In fact, at the beginning of each shot, the rifle is subjected to stresses taking the form of violent displacements, and the barrel withstands complex vibratory movements, of which the amplitude and frequency have a determining influence on the distribution of the impacts on the target. It is thus obvious that in order to follow an identical trajectory, all the projectiles must clear the mouth of the barrel of the rifle at the moment when the mouth of the barrel of the rifle occupies a single position in space. For this purpose, a device that is as stable as possible, must confer on the rifle a maximum level of immobility between and during each shot in order for the corrections made on the rifle, and particularly on its sighting units, to take place from a known constant reference position.
Many devices have been developed for holding a rifle in position during firing of the rifle and absorbing the recoil forces of the rifle. These devices can be useful in a variety of circumstances, for example, they can be used to adjust the gun sights or to test the mechanical integrity and accuracy of the rifle itself.
Numerous innovations for rifle shooting and related devices have been provided in the prior art that will be described below, which are in chronological order to show advancement in the art, and which are incorporated herein by reference thereto. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, they each differ in structure, and/or operation, and/or purpose from the embodiments of the present invention, in that they do not teach a gas-dampened recoil rest with remote trigger release for a rifle for allowing a shooter to fire the rifle without any human contact and possible motion contamination.
(1) U.S. Pat. No. 3,668,871 to Berndt et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,668,871 issued to Berndt et al. on Jun. 13, 1972 in class 60 and subclass 54.5 R teaches an hydraulic remote control apparatus for use in operating short-stroke valves located in the piston of an adjustment cylinder. The apparatus includes a pair of remotely located hydraulic chambers interconnected by way of a fluid-carrying conduit. A first hydraulic chamber is provided with a diaphragm and disk arrangement spanning the chamber to form fluid-tight operating and control compartments therein. A second hydraulic chamber has a smaller cross-section than the first chamber and is provided with a rolling elastomeric diaphragm, so that the volume of the second hydraulic chamber can be reduced by displacement of the plunger in a manner sufficient to deflect the rolling diaphragm.
(2) U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,860 to Auger
U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,860 issued to Auger on Mar. 22, 1977 in class 42 and subclass 94 teaches a lower base and an elongated generally horizontal support member oscillatably supported from the base for angular displacement about a generally horizontal axis. The support member extends in a direction transverse to the axis of oscillation thereof and includes structure spaced above its axis of oscillation for removably stationarily supporting a rifle therefrom, with the rifle extending longitudinally of the support member. Adjustment structure is operatively connected between the base and the support member for infinite angular adjustment of the support member relative to the base, throughout at least a limited sector of adjustment. In addition, an electric-motor-driven structure is also provided for removable support from a rifle supported from the support member and includes features for operative association with the trigger of the associated rifle, whereby the trigger may be gradually actuated without causing vibration of the rifle.
(3) U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,653 to Jackson
U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,653 issued to Jackson on Apr. 8, 1980 in class 89 and subclass 136 teaches an auxiliary firing mechanism used to actuate a tripper for a gun trigger, including a remote actuator connected to the tripper by an elongated connector, such as a cable, that is moved by the cooperable action of a control member and a rotatably and axially movable actuator member of the actuator. Camming surfaces of the control member and the actuator member of the actuator move the control member from a first position to a second position against a spring bias thereof in order to actuate the tripper and thereby trip the gun trigger whereupon the camming surface of the actuator member moves out of engagement with the camming surface of the control member in order to allow the control member to be moved back to the first position by its spring bias. Axial and rotational movement of the actuator member then again engages the camming surfaces of the control and actuator members in preparation for another actuation of the tripper. A manually movable lever, preferably having a foot pedal, rotates the actuator member to provide the tripper actuation.
(4) U.S. Pat. No. 4,409,826 to Wenger
U.S. Pat. No. 4,409,826 issued to Wenger on Oct. 18, 1983 in class 73 and subclass 167 teaches a test-firing apparatus, including a weapon-holder accommodating a rifle or hand-gun and a, preferably, freely mobile mounting for the holder in relation to a stationary base. A projecting support apparatus connected to the weapon allows the recoil-pulse to be absorbed in conjunction with the freely mobile mounting by the body of an operator as in practical shooting. The only purpose of the mounting, preferably in the form of a linear-precision guide including cross rollers, is to position the barrel-axis directionally, and the mounting is therefore subjected to little stress. Resilient and/or damping absorption of the recoil-pulse may also be provided. The barrel-axis is arranged in parallel with the movement-axis of the mounting, so that the point of impact of the bullet upon the target cannot be affected by the recoil-stroke. This parallelism may be adjusted by optical apparatus, preferably by way of a reference-weapon fitted to the weapon-holder. The barrel-axis of the reference-weapon is fixed parallel with the movement-axis by way of appropriate indexing elements. This indirect alignment is achieved by comparing the shot-patterns of the two weapons.
(5) U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,636 to Mueller
U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,636 issued to Mueller on Dec. 10, 1991 in class 42 and subclass 94 teaches a weapon sighting assembly, including a longitudinally extending frame rotatively secured under tension about a shock plate coupling the assembly to a grounded support. A resiliently supported barrel rest is adjustably mounted along the longitudinal frame. A weapon receiving cradle includes a compressive elastomeric pad and surfaces conforming to the aft end of the weapon and the marksperson's hand and/or shoulder. Cant adjustment apparatus is provided at the shock plate, windage adjustment apparatus couples to the longitudinal frame, and a resilient strap can be used to further couple a weapon to the assembly.
(6) U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,955 to Bond et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,955 issued to Bond et al. on Dec. 28, 1993 in class 89 and subclass 37.04 teaches a portable apparatus attachable to a wheelchair for movably supporting a gun thereon, including a pneumatic/hydraulic fluid-operated control circuit for operably controlling the direction of the gun while sitting in the wheelchair. The apparatus includes a support adapted to attach to the wheelchair and support a gun, and further includes a control system including an hydraulic linear actuator and an hydraulic rotary actuator operably connected to the support, an air tank operably connected through control valves and air/oil chambers to the actuators, and controls including a joystick that can be readily manipulated by the person in the wheelchair to move the control valves and thereby controllably actuate the actuators to aim the gun. A pair of oil-interlock valves are operably connected to either side of each of the actuators to securely locate the gun in a given position once aimed.
(7) U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,804 to Levilly
U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,804 issued to Levilly on Dec. 27, 1994 in class 248 and subclass 274 teaches a portable device for immobilizing individual firearms during adjustment firing. The device includes a seating intended to be attached to an existing support by attachment apparatus. The seating supports, so as to pivot about a first axis, a plate accommodating a rail that in turn is mounted so as to pivot on the plate about a second axis that is perpendicular to the first axis. The rail receives, in a sliding manner along its axis, at least two plates with adjustment slides. The slides are perpendicular to the axis of the rail and to the axis of pivoting of the rail. A U-shaped support is mounted in the slide of each plate and is provided with attachment apparatus intended to accommodate the weapon to be adjusted.
(8) U.S. Pat. No. 5,811,720 to Quinnell et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,811,720 issued to Quinnell et al. on Sep. 22, 1998 in class 89 and subclass 37.04 teaches a shooting rest for a rifle for absorbing the recoil produced when the rifle is fired. The rest includes a rifle mounting structure, a base structure, and a swivel plate. The rifle is secured to the rifle mounting structure having a mechanism for adjusting the elevation of the rifle barrel resting thereon. The rifle mounting structure is slidably engaged to the base structure, so that the rifle mounting structure may slide backwards in response to the recoil from firing the rifle. The recoil energy from the rifle is absorbed by several rubber balls when a first bracket mounted to the rifle mounting structure is forced backwards towards the rubber balls, which are held in position by a second bracket mounted to the base structure. The base structure may be mounted on a plate swivable around a vertical axis allowing the rifle to be aimed in different horizontal directions. The swivel plate can be adjustably secured to the edge of a shooting table so that the shooting rest may be used at any rifle range or on any relatively flat surface without permanently attaching it to the surface.
It is apparent that numerous innovations for rifle shooting and related devices have been provided in the prior art that are adapted to be used. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the embodiments of the present invention as heretofore described, namely, a gas-dampened recoil rest with remote trigger release for a rifle for allowing a shooter to fire the rifle without any human contact and possible motion contamination.